


Tyrannosaurus Rex

by PazithiGallifreya



Category: The Tick (TV 2017), The Tick - All Media Types
Genre: Don’t copy to another site, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-10
Updated: 2019-04-10
Packaged: 2020-01-07 15:37:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18413606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PazithiGallifreya/pseuds/PazithiGallifreya
Summary: Agent Commander Rathbone has made a lot of executive decisions in his career, for good and for ill. He's not so sure about this one, however...





	Tyrannosaurus Rex

Arthur shoved his helmet back, letting it fold into itself and the antennae flop against his back. His hair felt sticky and he was still sweating. Whatever Miss Lint was up to, she was doing it quietly, so he and the Tick had been keeping themselves busy chasing petty criminals. It wasn't, in Arthur's mind, a very interesting way to spend the day, but it certainly kept him moving. They'd escorted a woman home after chasing off some overly aggressive man who wouldn't leave her alone, thwarted a mugger, then spent the rest of the afternoon chasing a carjacker across town. Arthur was definitely looking forward to a cold drink and one of those nano-butter croissants in the AEGIS hero lounge.

The Tick, of course, wasn't even slightly tired, still bouncing around him and gesticulating like a small child who had been given espresso. “Hey, Arthur, let's go find Overkill and Dot, I bet they're doing something interesting! Ooh! Or we could go visit your mom! I want another one of those shepherd pie things!”

Arthur rolled his eyes and stared past the Tick to the lounge door at the far end of the corridor, already tasting the croissant. “Maybe later, Tick. I want to check the police reports. Miss Lint won't keep hidden for long, maybe there's a hint in there somewhere--”

“Arthur!” A smiling AEGIS employee was waving at him from a door at the side of the hallway. Arthur couldn't remember the woman's name but vaguely recalled seeing her trailing after Agent Commander Rathbone in recent days. There'd been some turnover in staff since Hobbes had been ousted, and this was one of the new faces. I should probably take the time to get to know some of these people, he thought, but his priorities at the moment were _ice cold frosty wonderful water_ and _delicious delicious croissant_ and getting off of his aching feet. He could still feel sweat trickling down his back underneath the suit and thought a shower later wouldn't be a bad idea, either.

He smiled and waved at the smiling woman and swept past, the door of the lounge calling to him like a siren. A hand shot out of the doorway and grabbed his sleeve before he could continue. “Sorry Mister Everest, but Agent Commander Rathbone wanted me to show you in as soon as you returned.” Arthur groaned, rolling his eyes. The woman's smile hadn't changed, exactly, but something in her eyes brooked no argument.

Arthur looked at Tick, who had bounded ahead and had paused halfway through the door. Arthur smiled in a way he hoped was reassuring, although he wasn't sure which of them he was trying to reassure, exactly. “Just wait in there, Tick, get a snack or something, I'm sure this won't take long.” _I hope_.

 

* * *

 

Tyrannosaurus “Ty” Rathbone leaned back behind his desk, the chair creaking slightly under his weight. They'd brought the furniture out of storage when this office was reopened, and dusted it all off admirably, but much of it really needed updating, he thought. It had been over ten years, after all, and AEGIS had an image to uphold.

He flipped through the file – another old thing that had not been so admirably dusted off, but rather had spent a decade collecting dust in a file cabinet down in storage. He had the digitized version in AEGIS's databases, along with the later additions - everything had been scanned as the office had made efforts to go as “paperless” as possible in the last few years - but there was something about the tactile nature of paper he preferred to the slick gloss of the computer screen.

Everest, Arthur. AEGIS had more data on this one man than just about any other mundane, non-hero, non-villain citizen in the nation. _Well, non-hero doesn't apply anymore, does it?_ he thought to himself. That was sort of the problem, really, and he had no one but himself to blame.

The boy's difficulties were familiar enough to him, at least in text form. Agent Wu had kept up with the family, officially for about five years. Then John had retired and become Walter, and his reports took on a more familiar tone, but the refrain had continued along much the same tune – periods of relative stability punctuated by wild outbursts. First it had been difficulties at school – Arthur had been a bright student gifted in mathematics particularly, but he'd had constant attention problems, confrontations with other students and with teachers, disruptive behavior – then about halfway through Everest's junior year of high school, the first full-blown episode of psychosis complete with delusions, paranoia, and hallucinations. A parade of psychiatrists and prescriptions followed.

His mother had said he was fine during the recent home interview, that Arthur was right about The Terror, that they'd all just been misguided, that it was just one big misunderstanding. _In a pig's eye,_ Rathbone thought. _You don't suddenly cure an illness like that by being right about one thing._ It hadn't been too difficult for his agents to confirm that Everest had been refilling his prescriptions on time in recent weeks, and presumably taking them. If he decided to go off them again.... _Well, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it._

Rathbone dropped the file onto the desk and rubbed at a spot between his eyes, trying to stave off a headache. The bullet wound had been absolutely and instantly fatal, but he'd not been allowed to rest in peace, and that was another thing he tried not to think about. _Focus on the job in front of you, Rathbone. The rest will come in its own time, it always does._

He pulled out a much thinner folder containing Arthur's super hero application and test results, and shoved it behind the yellowing paper in the significantly thicker folder. The boy had been so thrilled to be allowed to join, and Rathbone couldn't quite shake the feeling that he'd made some dire mistake in allowing it, but tried to let it go. The boy had lived a life of difficulty and disappointment, for the most part. But now? Arthur had been so happy when he'd been told he was a member of the newly reinstated Flag Five. A pity it had not lasted. _That's twice, Rathbone. Twice the Five have failed under your hand. Twice you overlooked all those little hints. Twice you failed to see where all those threads connected_.

At least this time, a family had been reunited, not shattered. Even Shooter had seemingly forgiven him. None of this, of course, was _his_ doing – no, it was that fragile little Everest boy and his strange nigh-invulnerable blue freak of a friend. It was the angry Everest girl, and it was the man he'd given up on – all his own failures coming home to roost, and to save AEGIS from yet another one of his massive oversights.

One of these days he'd learn to pay better attention.

 

* * *

 

Arthur allowed himself to be escorted through the building, although he still remembered the way to Rathbone's office perfectly well, the memory of their first encounter still somewhat raw in the back of his mind. He'd been so sure he was going to be told not to bother returning. He still feared that it had all been some kind of mistake, that the other shoe was going to drop at any moment, that perhaps even now the Agent Commander was bringing him in to tell him to hang up his Urmanian aerial defense suit and go home and be a good little accountant again, that they could find someone else, someone better qualified, to keep The Tick out of trouble.

The AEGIS agent escorting him pushed open the door to Rathbone's office, and gestured him through, cocking an eyebrow at him in a way Arthur was fairly sure held a heavy dose of sarcasm. He tried not to roll his eyes as he went in, putting the judgmental agent behind him, both figuratively and literally. The door whiffed shut under its own weight behind him, blocking out the sound of the activity in the room beyond.

Rathbone's back was to him as the Agent Commander busied himself in a drawer in the cabinet behind his desk. “Have a seat, son.”

Arthur sat and looked around the room, taking in details he hadn't noticed during his previous visit. The room was sparsely decorated; there were no real personal touches anywhere. It might be that AEGIS had not been reopened long, but Arthur suspected years could pass without anything being changed much in this room. At least they'd replaced the glass with Overkill's bullet hole. Arthur wondered if they'd had the sense to use bulletproof glass this time, but bit his tongue before the question could escape and potentially be interpreted as a criticism. _I've embarrassed myself enough in this room already_ , he though. _What does he even want? We stopped Hobbes. Is he mad that Miss Lint escaped?_

“Sir... if... uh, we're actually trying to find Miss Li... er, Joan of Arc right now. I've got a few leads I'm keeping an eye on, I check the police reports every day, sometimes twice a day, and I... uh, I, um... I think maybe something will come up soon if we can just wait for a pattern to emerge and--”

Rathbone turned back around, waving him off. He threw a lanyard with a plastic ID card onto the desk and Arthur just barely caught hold of it before it could skitter off onto the floor. “Er, uh...”

“That'll get you into the employee gym, and I suggest you make use of it. There are trainers available, but you'll have to register to get time. I'll have one of the pencil pushers get an account set up for you so you can use the employee computer systems.”

Arthur blinked at the access card, which had his name and a headshot, helmet included. He'd seen some of the AEGIS employees wandering around the building with similar cards clipped to their uniforms or hanging from their necks. “Oh, uh... right. Does the Tick--”

Rathbone shook his head, leaning back in his chair as he crossed his arms over his broad chest. “The Tick isn't getting one. Doesn't need it. We don't give these to heroes, as a general rule, they're for field operatives and agents.”

Arthur looked at the piece of plastic, not sure how to feel about it. Of course, the Tick doesn't need training. He's a real hero. _Of course Rathbone still thinks I'm a useless weakling._

“You've picked a dangerous line of work, even with that fancy bunny suit. Even being a category is no guarantee, you should know that, maybe better than anyone else here.” Rathbone paused, his gaze slipping away from Arthur for a brief moment, fixating on some unfocused distant point. He shook his head, dispelling the moment. “I can't--AEGIS can't protect you, not out in the thick of it. Your blue friend might, if he can pay attention long enough, but I wouldn't put all my eggs in that basket case if I were you, son.”

Arthur tried, and failed not to be annoyed, the dig at his friend distracting him from Rathbone's near-slip of the tongue. “The Tick wouldn't let anyone--”

“Hurt you? Not on purpose, but from what I've seen, he's like a dog in a squirrel convention most of the time. I'm not telling you that you _have_ to do anything, I'm just giving you options. If you throw that card in a drawer and never touch it again, that's your own business – It's AEGIS's job to provide resources and support for heroes, and a few comforts in return for your work, and to deal with anyone beyond the capability of law enforcement who become a danger to the citizens of this nation. We're not here to tell you how to do your job, that's your own business so long as you stay within the confines of the law. So that's what I'm doing here, Arthur – I'm giving you resources. I suggest you use them.”

“Yes, sir.” Arthur gripped the card, feeling the hard plastic edges through his glove, and nodded, skidding the chair back to stand up. His hair was still slicked against his head, and the drying sweat in his undershirt, trapped between the suit and his skin, was beginning to make him itch. A wave of dizziness hit as he got to his feet and he tried not to let it show. He caught Rathbone's eye without meaning to, and wondered at an odd expression that passed across the man's face for a brief moment. “Thank you, I'll... uh, I'll definitely have a look later.”

Whatever the expression had been, it was gone, replaced with Rathbone's usual impatient and vaguely harried look. “I suggest you drink something before you pass out, dehydration's nothing to fool around with. Now remember what I said about The Tick the other day, and do keep me updated on Miss Lint. I have no doubt you'll find her sooner or later, you're clever enough, whatever else you are.”

 

* * *

 

It wasn't until Arthur was sitting at the computer console in the lounge with his second glass of water and his third croissant that he realized Rathbone had said “Miss Lint”, not “Joan of Arc.” He took another bite of pastry and scrolled further down the page of police reports, wondering at that.

The Tick pulled at the lanyard around Arthur's neck. “Ooh, look Arthur, it's a little plastic rectangle with your picture on it! Keen!”

Arthur batted the Tick's hand away and kept scrolling.

 

* * *

 

Rathbone stood in his office, staring out of the window at The City beyond, watching the sunset paint long shadows across tall buildings. He shoved the Everest boy's file in the back of the drawer and wondered in a vague, cosmic sort of way how they'd all come to this point. There were still occasionally nights he didn't sleep, where regret and guilt and quite often an expensive bottle of whiskey kept him company, where he wondered if he could have stopped The Terror from killing his Flag Five, could have stopped the Everest children's father from being crushed to death, could have stopped Esteban from being framed, could have stopped Hobbes' coup, could have stopped Joan of Arc's theivery, could have stopped any other number of disasters both great and small that had happened under his watch.

Rathbone stepped back, opening another drawer to pull out a white laboratory mouse, feeding the black hole in his chest once more. Maybe there was never any other option, really. Maybe one man alone can never steer destiny away from her course.

Rathbone turned and leaned back, propping himself against the cabinet, staring at the empty guest chair on the other side of the desk. Arthur Everest. That name had inhabited a small, worried corner of his mind for fifteen years. A bystander, a victim, a fragile and damaged boy who had grown into a physically unimposing man. Hardly the stuff of legend, but something about him gave Rathbone an unexpected sense of hope.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I found this new character a bit interesting in season 2 of The Tick, because he's set up in a way to make the audience take an instant disliking to him (and to suspect him of double-crossing Overkill to boot). I think a second viewing rather changes the whole tone of that key scene in the second episode where Arthur is pressed into defending his choice to apply for a superhero license, especially after we learn from “Walter” that his whole family were put under watch when The Terror took notice of Arthur after the destruction of the Flag 5 (and Arthur and Dot’s dad).
> 
> First thing - Rathbone didn’t have to make a literal house call to recruit him & the Tick. He could have sent an agent to speak to them, but no, he’s the head honcho and here he is turning up at Arthur’s apartment. So his dismissiveness of Arthur in the second episode is something of a roadblock but I started to wonder if it wasn’t so much Rathbone really believing him a waste of time and more Rathbone trying to see how badly Arthur really wants all of this, and if Arthur is likely to take it seriously.
> 
> Because the thing is, Rathbone knows Arthur. He’s known Arthur since Arthur was about ten years old. Maybe not in person but through the reports of the agents watching him over several years. And the Flag 5 were Rathbone’s creation, and, rather significantly, they failed. They failed and literally crushed this kid’s dad right in front of him. That’s gotta weigh on a man’s ability to sleep at night, if he has even an ounce of empathy. (And he clearly does, if giving Overkill his second chance after a single phone call says anything). I think Rathbone had to find out how badly Arthur really wanted this, because he knows there’s a good chance he’s going to have a second Everest death on his hands if he lets Arthur join AEGIS. And, of course, he also does actually need a babysitter for The Tick because holy cow that guy is gonna be more trouble than a sack of wet cats.
> 
> So, this was my take on some of the potential subtleties of this relationship. It might all be shot to hell in season 3, but I'll take that risk...


End file.
